ALEX Resources

   View Standards     Standard(s): [SC2015] PS8 (8) 12 :

12 ) Construct an argument from evidence explaining that fields exist between objects exerting forces on each other (e.g., interactions of magnets, electrically charged strips of tape, electrically charged pith balls, gravitational pull of the moon creating tides) even when the objects are not in contact.

This before activity can be used with a unit on forces, specifically electrical fields. The students will watch a demonstration by the teacher using a balloon and small pieces of paper. The teacher will tear small pieces of paper and place them in a loose pile so that the students may see. Have one student volunteer to come up to the front of the room and rub the balloon on his or her hair to collect electrons and make the balloon negatively charged. The students will make predictions, observations, and provide explanations during the demonstration on the jumping paper document. The teacher may choose to lead a class discussion and allow the students to make explanations for what they observed.

This activity was created as a result of the ALEX  Resource Development Summit.

   View Standards     Standard(s): [SC2015] ES6 (6) 1 :

1 ) Create and manipulate models (e.g., physical, graphical, conceptual) to explain the occurrences of day/night cycles, length of year, seasons, tides, eclipses, and lunar phases based on patterns of the observed motions of celestial bodies.

[SC2015] PS8 (8) 12 :

12 ) Construct an argument from evidence explaining that fields exist between objects exerting forces on each other (e.g., interactions of magnets, electrically charged strips of tape, electrically charged pith balls, gravitational pull of the moon creating tides) even when the objects are not in contact.

Tides are the rise and fall of the Earth’s seas and oceans, and they are caused by the pull of gravity from the sun and moon. Tides cause changes in the depths of the water, meaning that seas and oceans are continually experiencing cycles of high and low tides.

The classroom resource provides a video that will describe how tides are created by the gravitational pull of the moon on Earth's oceans. There is also a short test that can be used to assess students' understanding.

   View Standards     Standard(s): [ELA2015] (8) 19 :

19 ) By the end of the year, read and comprehend literary nonfiction at the high end of the Grades 6-8 text complexity band independently and proficiently. [RI.8.10]

[SC2015] PS8 (8) 12 :

12 ) Construct an argument from evidence explaining that fields exist between objects exerting forces on each other (e.g., interactions of magnets, electrically charged strips of tape, electrically charged pith balls, gravitational pull of the moon creating tides) even when the objects are not in contact.

The teacher will present an informational text from the website, ReadWorks. Students will interact with this non-fiction text by annotating the text digitally. This article will explain how the moon creates tides on Earth by exerting the force of gravity on Earth's oceans, even though the two celestial objects are not in contact. Students could use this informational material to construct their own argument explaining how fields exist between objects exerting forces on each other. 

   View Standards     Standard(s): [SC2015] PS8 (8) 12 :

12 ) Construct an argument from evidence explaining that fields exist between objects exerting forces on each other (e.g., interactions of magnets, electrically charged strips of tape, electrically charged pith balls, gravitational pull of the moon creating tides) even when the objects are not in contact.

In this lesson, students will see evidence of the magnetic field of a small magnet. The purpose of this lesson is to reinforce the concept that magnets attract and repel items and exert a magnetic field that can vary in strength.